Goooooooaaaaalllllls!

How do you plan your goals?

How do I plan my goals? This is an interesting question. I see this planning akin to the objectives of a character in a play, with both short and long term goals. And I think they arise and I work toward them in different ways.

Once I thought: I’d like to get a BA in Theatre. Following that, the plan/goal became: I’d like to get an MFA in Theatre and become the artistic director of a theatre. Of course, goals don’t always materialize as you expect them to. Then the next goal became: I’d like to get a PhD in Theatre and become a university professor.

When a character’s objectives (through plans and tactics) don’t work out, they change their tactics. The same is true in life.

I think a better version of this question might be, “How do you plan in order to achieve your goals?” because I see that system of techniques more clearer than planning goals. Because, as I think back, sometimes my goals seem to have appeared as from an oracle. I just get an idea:

• What if we create a theatre focus group in the Association for Theatre in Higher Education for Digital Theatre in Teaching and Performance?
• What if I edit a book called Theatre in Cyberspace and get colleagues to write chapters?
• What if, in retirement, I start a new theatre/performance group to pick up where I left off in directing?

The first one didn’t work out, the second one did, and the third is ongoing. This week we had our second event, an Improv night.

This event proved to be as underattended as the first (Open Mic Poetry Night), and so the experience suggested to me I need to change my tactics. What do I really want to do? Direct shows—that’s my real strength. And how to get there, along with the objective of encouraging original work? Sponsor a one-act play contest!

The rules for this are being formulated, and will be announced soon. With luck and the blessing of Dionysus it will yield some produceable plays. Those will allow us to start small, and yet continue to build: our next goal with the company.

If you have a one-act, or know someone who does, get it ready for submission!